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One day a man was going on a long trip. He needed his servants to take care of his property while he was gone, so he called them to him.

To the first servant he gave five talents of money. (A talent was not a coin, but a weight of a precious metal such as silver, and one talent was worth more than $1,000. So this servant received money worth more than $5,000.)

This man went to work at once using his money until he had doubled it. He now had ten talents instead of five.

The master gave the second man two talents. He probably thought the man was capable of managing that amount of money. The second man was successful also, and doubled his money. He began with more than $2,000 and now he had twice as much.

The third man was not as capable as the other two, but the master gave him one talent with the expectation that he would manage it well. He, too, could have increased his money, but he dug a hole and hid it in the ground.

After a long time the master returned. (Some think the master's trip is a picture of Jesus returning to heaven, and the return from the trip is the judgment of mankind.) He was ready for a report from the servants.

The man who had received five talents brought his money and showed the master that he had doubled it. He was happy to show his master the results.

The master was well pleased. He said, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"

The man that had been given two talents showed the master that he had also doubled his money. He received the same words of praise as the first man who had received five talents.

The man who had received one talent dug up the talent he had buried and brought it to the master. He accused the master of being a hard man to work for, said he had been afraid, so he just buried his talent. He gave it back to the master saying, "See, here is what belongs to you."

The master was very angry with him and called him a wicked, lazy servant. He said the man should at least have put the money with bankers and received some interest. (Now the Jews could not charge nor receive interest from a fellow Jew, but they could get interest from a person who was not a Jew.)

The master took his one talent away from him and gave it to the man who had ten talents, and the one talent man was punished because he had not properly used the talent he had been given.

What can we learn from this story? We need to use whatever "talent" God has given us. It might be money or ability. If we use it wisely, He will increase it so that our lives will glorify Him.